New approach to $^4$He charge distribution

Abstract

We present a study of the $^4$He charge distribution based on realistic nucleonic wave functions and incorporation of the nucleon's quark substructure. The central depression of the proton point density seen in modern four-body calculations is too small by itself to lead to a correct description of the charge distribution. We utilize six-quark structures calculated in the Chromodielectric Model for N-N interactions, and we find a swelling of the proton charge distribution as the internucleon distance decreases. These charge distributions are combined with the $^4$He wave function using the Independent Pair Approximation and two-body distributions generated from Green's Function Monte Carlo calculations. We obtain a reasonably good fit to the experimental charge distribution without including meson exchange currents.